After months of turmoil that threatened its existence, Bill Blass appears to be headed downmarket fast.

The aging fashion brand has been sold by NexCen Brands for $10 million to Peacock International Holdings, a South Korea-based manufacturer that specializes in men’s shirt-and-tie gift sets for midprice outlets.

NexCen, a licensing and franchising firm that also owns Athlete’s Foot and Maggie Moo’s ice cream, had purchased Blass in 2006 for $54.6 million with plans to restore Blass to the glory days of the 1980s and ’90s under its founder and namesake, who died in 2002.

But while NexCen hired star designer Peter Som in July 2007, the plans unraveled in May when NexCen announced that a looming debt payment related to another acquisition threatened the company’s solvency. NexCen tried to sell Blass this fall for more than $25 million to raise cash, but the credit crisis scuttled any potential deal, sources said.